Yellowjacket wrestling team aims to grow the sport and confidence in women

High schools in the state of Mississippi have been competing in wrestling for four years now, and one specific program on the coast has taken on the girls division by storm. 

learn more about the St. Martin Yellowjackets and their road to another ring.

This past weekend, the St. Martin girls wrestling team participated in the Hornet Duals competition where they clinched a spot in the Dual State Championship. The Yellowjackets aren’t strangers to the podium winning the State Championship just last year, but the pressure is on to keep the title in their hands. 

“It’s exciting but it’s also nerve wracking because we’ve got to continue holding on to the title,” said sophomore wrestler Alaija Green.

“Knowing that if we put the work in, we can beat those teams still, and knowing that we’re number one it helps us and stuff, but we can also keep that going,” said Mackenzie Rocco, a freshman wrestler.

Winning is truly what every team strives for, but it definitely isn’t the only thing. With every match and every competition, these girls aim to prove that girls belong in wrestling, too.

“Some of the girls don’t get out and do this so it shows that we are confident in ourselves and we can do whatever a boy can do,” Rocco said. “We’re not different from any other boy. They may be stronger and stuff but we’re not different.”

Every time they attend a practice or a meet, the girls are reminded that they’re accepted because their coaches are just like them.

“I feel like they need a strong female example to show them you can set your boundaries, you’re allowed to do that. You can push the envelope. You can use your voice,” said Coach Rosemary Hodgson. “You can use your strength and you’re allowed to be a strong woman without someone saying something negative about you, and I want them to have that confidence to be themselves and to continue to build up their confidence in the future.

Because of the confidence grown in them, they now want to instill that confidence in other women.

“Back then it was the older kids, for me it was the older kids, and I wanted to be like them and now it’s me helping grow other girls’ said Green. “Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in Mississippi right now, so at least come out and try. It’s pretty fun. It’s emotional, but the strongest people come out here and give it their all.”

“The more you train and the more you get better, the more you’ll be able to protect yourself out there,” Rocco said.

The Yellowjackets will have the opportunity to protect their title this Saturday in Oxford as they participate in State Duals. We hope this group also accomplishes their main goal in the process, which is to grow women’s wrestling!